The trouble was that Liang Qing refused to let it go, and rumors have a way of snowballing—the more people who heard about the “necklace incident,” the more Qian Wei found herself the subject of whispers and pointed fingers whenever she walked down the street.
“Is that her?”
“Yeah, that’s her…”
“We really need to be more careful from now on when we leave the dorm—can’t just casually leave the door unlocked anymore. What if something actually goes missing?”
Every time Liu Shiyun overheard this kind of talk, she was the first to lose her temper, more than once ready to roll up her sleeves and go give someone a piece of her mind, if Qian Wei hadn’t held her back each time.
Liu Shiyun looked worried. “It’s already been a few days—the investigative committee should be done with whatever they’re investigating, but there’s still no conclusion. And honestly, with something like this, even if she deliberately framed you, the necklace really was found in your possession. Sure, the way the evidence was obtained wasn’t exactly proper procedure, but the public doesn’t care about that—as far as everyone’s concerned, it’s an open-and-shut case that you stole it. Now the burden’s on us to prove you didn’t. How do you even prove a negative like that? It’s incredibly difficult!” She rubbed her chin, her tone heavy. “What I’m most afraid of now is that the committee just decides to sweep it under the rug—quietly mediate between you two behind closed doors and call it settled. But the problem is, if this doesn’t get properly cleared up, then even without any official disciplinary action, not clearing your name is basically the same as being found guilty. Your reputation’s going to take a hit either way.”
“Should we just go to the police? Might as well let the professionals handle this instead! If Liang Qing won’t report it, we will—that should work, right?”
“Reporting it won’t help either.” Qian Wei was fairly calm about it by now. “The police station won’t even open a case for something like this, because it’s not really a theft case anymore—the necklace has already been found, so there’s no longer any missing item worth tens of thousands to speak of. If I wanted to report anything, it’d be defamation, but don’t forget—defamation is a private prosecution offense under criminal law, which means the police can’t directly handle it as a criminal case. To actually pursue it, I’d need to hire a lawyer to gather and preserve evidence, then file a civil suit in court myself. So even if I go to the police, there’s genuinely nothing they can do to help with something like this. And hiring a lawyer to preserve evidence—when all they’ve done is talk about me behind my back, without leaving any trace online—would be a huge hassle and take forever. You know procedural law better than I do; you know how long it takes to get through litigation all the way to a second-instance ruling. It would wear a person down completely before it’s even resolved.”
Liu Shiyun looked troubled too. “That’s true… but didn’t Lu Xun say he’d handle it? It’s already been days, and tomorrow’s the school anniversary celebration. I heard he’s supposed to give a speech at the opening ceremony as an outstanding student representative—he’s not just too busy prepping his speech to have forgotten about this, is he?” Liu Shiyun muttered under her breath. “Honestly, if men could be trusted, pigs could climb trees. Remember that garbage Tang Lü, going around swearing he’d love me forever and only me…”
Being pointed at and whispered about everywhere she went naturally weighed on Qian Wei too, but she still managed a smile for Liu Shiyun. “I trust Lu Xun.”
It wasn’t that she had no doubts at all. But somehow, Qian Wei always felt that whatever Lu Xun said he’d do, he would do.
Fortunately, with the school anniversary the next day, nearly the entire campus was absorbed in preparations. The anniversary was a full day off from classes, with a brief opening ceremony in the morning. Besides the school leadership, they’d invited distinguished alumni from past graduating classes as well as current outstanding student representatives to speak, followed by an anniversary performance. Since this marked University A’s 50th founding anniversary, the school had genuinely spared no effort or expense this time—besides student-organized performances, they’d brought in a number of professional dance and music ensembles as well.
Early on the morning of the anniversary, Qian Wei, Liu Shiyun, and Qian Chuan headed to the university gymnasium along with the rest of the student body. University A’s newly built gymnasium was enormous—large enough to host the city’s college basketball league games, with a capacity of over ten thousand, and it was where all major campus-wide events and evening galas were usually held.
Qian Chuan, as usual, had zero interest in this kind of event, and he was already dozing off during the president’s long-winded opening remarks.
“Next, please welcome our Class of 2008 Law School outstanding student representative, Lu Xun, to the stage!”
Amid the thunderous applause, Qian Chuan—who a moment ago had been practically comatose—jolted wide awake in an instant.
“Listen up, this guy’s my brother-in-law!” He shook the friends from the sports science department sitting beside him, giving the still-dozing Da Mao a smack. “Wake up, you idiot! Get up and listen to my brother-in-law’s speech!”
“…”
As Lu Xun spoke up on stage, Qian Chuan showed off down below. “Look at that, that’s my brother-in-law, a man chosen by the heavens, so damn handsome! With the gymnasium lights hitting him like that, doesn’t he look almost too perfect to be real??”
Qian Wei had no idea what method Lu Xun had used to win Qian Chuan over so completely, but watching the man commanding everyone’s attention up on stage right now, she felt a genuine surge of pride well up in her chest.
On a momentous occasion like the 50th anniversary celebration, even the usually stern-faced university president wore a rare smile. But Lu Xun’s expression remained cool and composed. He was so handsome it created a kind of distance—Qian Wei used to privately grumble about that cold, detached air of his, but now, she found even that alone made him utterly captivating. The most unfeeling exterior somehow held the deepest feeling underneath.
“Our school motto is: ‘Pursue knowledge diligently, question earnestly, discern clearly, think carefully, study broadly, and revere the law.'” Lu Xun’s voice rang out clear and forceful. “Standing here, I want to thank our school—thank you for holding fast to this motto, for making me feel proud to study at this institution.”
“What I want to talk about today is something that happened in our law school three days ago.”
Just as everyone expected him to move on to some standard, ceremonial praise of the school, Lu Xun’s tone shifted. Even with his excellent eyesight, there was no way he could actually pick her out among the dense crowd filling the gymnasium—yet Qian Wei somehow felt, all the same, as though his gaze had found her.
“A female student in our law school, Qian Wei, was accused by a student from the foreign languages department, Liang Qing, of stealing a necklace worth tens of thousands of yuan. In front of multiple witnesses, the hidden necklace was found in Qian Wei’s dorm room.” Lu Xun’s voice was cold. He paused for a moment. “Witness testimony, physical evidence—it would seem the case is airtight, wouldn’t it?”
“But is what you’re shown always the truth? According to Liang Qing’s own account, the necklace went missing around 8 p.m. four days ago—she’d kept it in a drawer in her dorm room. It then reappeared around 2 a.m. three days ago, in Qian Wei’s drawer. In other words, if Qian Wei really did steal it, the crime could only have occurred within that window. Within those seven hours, from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Qian Wei was eating off-campus—which can be verified not only by the friends she was with, but by the staff at the Korean barbecue restaurant. That leaves only the remaining five and a half hours, from 9:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., during which Qian Wei needs to prove her innocence.”
What should have been a speech from an outstanding student representative at the anniversary ceremony had, under Lu Xun’s calm and steady delivery, turned into a full case analysis. The teachers present were frantically gesturing at Lu Xun to stop, but he stood unmoved, continuing to speak with firm composure.
“I’m grateful the school hasn’t rushed to brand an innocent student a thief. While our dorm rooms don’t have cameras installed, out of respect for student privacy, there are security cameras at the stairwell landing on every floor for safety reasons. Liang Qing’s room is on the fourth floor; Qian Wei’s is on the third. After reviewing the footage, from 9:30 p.m. three nights ago to 2:30 a.m. the following morning, Qian Wei never once went up to the fourth floor.” Lu Xun’s voice stayed calm, yet carried unmistakable authority. “Someone who never even set foot on the fourth floor during the entire window in which the necklace supposedly went missing—did she fly up there to steal it?”
“I hope that not just the school, but every one of us as students, can keep our school motto in mind—to discern clearly and think carefully—not only in matters close to us, but when facing broader social issues as well. Not to simply follow the crowd or accept a prevailing narrative at face value, but to always maintain independent judgment, to never spread rumors, and to never believe them blindly either. Just like this necklace incident—at first glance, it looked like Qian Wei, having stolen the necklace, owed an apology to the victim, Liang Qing. But what’s the actual truth of the matter? I’d say it’s the person who falsely accused Qian Wei who owes her an apology.”
…
“Every one of us as university students should strive to have an independent, sound character and a clear, rational mind. And we, as law students, carry an even greater responsibility for the future progress of the legal system—all the more reason to hold fairness and compassion in our hearts, to see clearly and reason soundly, and to maintain respect and reverence for the law.”
His words drew endless applause. Liu Shiyun was practically bursting with excitement, nudging Qian Wei. “That’s it, that’s it, even I’m falling for your Lu Xun! He’s just too good-looking! I never imagined he’d clear your name this way! Now the whole school knows—not only did you not steal anything, Liang Qing framed you! Wait?? Qian Wei, why are you crying?”
Amid the thunderous applause, under the blinding glare of the spotlights, Qian Wei looked at the man standing in that glow—his face cool as frost, yet extraordinarily handsome—and found tears streaming down her face. She hadn’t meant to cry, but the tears seemed to have a will of their own, welling up despite herself. She had never imagined that being protected like this would feel this way. All the grievance, all the frustration, all the sadness she’d kept bottled up and refused to show—it all seemed to dissolve and vanish along with her tears in that moment.
“That concludes my speech. Thank you.” Once he finished, Lu Xun finally let a faint smile cross his face. Then, his voice clear and deliberate, he added, “What I’m about to say has nothing to do with the speech. I’d like Liang Qing to know—Mo Tao is not Qian Wei’s boyfriend. Please stop causing her trouble because of him.” Then, enunciating each word, one at a time: “I—am—her—boy—friend.”
At that, the entire gymnasium erupted.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, the applause that followed was even more thunderous and frenzied than before. In a gymnasium holding over ten thousand people, not even the legendary game where University A had crushed A Engineering University in basketball had ever produced such deafening applause and screaming. The sound surged upward as if it might blow the roof clean off the building; nothing could contain the crowd’s excitement. The teachers trying to maintain order were clearly attempting to control the scene, but it was hopeless—the uproar Lu Xun had caused was simply too great.
In the entire history of University A, no one had ever confessed their feelings in such a bold, unabashed way.